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Men's Hoops Hosts #8 Wildcats on Wednesday.

ASU HOSTS CATS: The Arizona State men's basketball team (11-13, 3-10 in Pac-10), under third-year head coach Rob Evans, plays host to the eighth-ranked Arizona Wildcats Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MST. The game will be carried on KFYI 550 AM in Phoenix, with Tim Healey (play-by-play) and Vic Cegles (color) calling the action. Fox Sports Net will televise the Arizona game with Barry Tompkins (play-by-play) and Dan Belloumini (color) calling the action. After going winless in its first seven conference games, ASU has won three of its past six by margins of 15 (73-58 at Oregon State on Feb. 1), 27 (99-72 at Oregon on Feb. 4) and 32 (89-57 vs. Washington on Feb. 10).

STOREY ON THE BOARDS: Awvee Storey, a 6-6 junior who led the Pac-10 in offensive rebounds last year, is averaging 14.8 points and 11.5 rebounds in his past 12 contests. He was named Pac-10 Player of the Week (Feb. 1-4) after averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds in a road sweep of the Oregon schools. Storey grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds at WSU and had 16 again vs. UCLA. The 16 boards is the most by a Sun Devil since Mike Batiste had 18 in triple-overtime at Texas A & M on Dec. 19, 1998. Storey is averaging a league-leading 9.5 boards per game and has 88 (3.67 pg) on offense. Storey also is averaging a double-double in Pac-10 play (14.0 pts./10.7 rebs.). His 9.5 rebounds per game is the best by a Sun Devil since Alton Lister averaged 9.7 rebounds in 1980-81. Only one Sun Devil has led the Pac-10 in rebounding, Lester Neal in 1992-93 with 9.0 boards per game. He also leads the Pac-10 in double-doubles with 10.

SMITH PLAYING WELL: Tommy Smith matched a Pac-10 record for field goal percentage by making all 11 shots against Washington on Saturday, Feb. 10, and has been playing well since mid-January. Smith, a 6-9 sophomore, is averaging 12.5 points in the past 10 games and had a career-high 24 points vs. the Huskies. His 11-of-11 effort put him in the Pac-10 record book for field goal accuracy with Steve Johnson of Oregon State, Marques Johnson of UCLA and Bryan Bracey of Oregon. Steve Johnson was 13-of-13 vs. Hawaii-Hilo on Dec. 5, 1979. In Pac-10 games, Marques Johnson was 11-of-11 vs. California on Feb. 27, 1976, and Bracey was 10-of-10 vs. Washington on Jan. 20, 2000. Smith has scored in double-digits in nine of the past 10 games after posting double digits in just five games last season (just two Pac-10 games). He had 15 points at Oregon on Feb. 4, then had his first double-double with 11 points and 12 boards vs. Washington State on Feb. 8 before his 24-point, seven-rebound and five-assist effort against Washington. In his past five games, Smith is 28-of-41 (.683) from the field and is averaging 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds.

DEVIL THREE-DOT DATA: ASU is outrebounding Pac-10 foes by 7.2 boards per game, the second-best mark in the loop, and has outrebounded 19 of its 24 opponents...Alton Mason has made 50-of-61 (.820) free throws in the past 14 games...junior Awvee Storey is averaging 14.8 points and 11.5 caroms in the past 12 games...sophomore Shawn Redhage is shooting 83 percent (132-of-159) from the free throw line in his 56-game career...ASU shot .613 (38-of-62) from the field against Washington on Feb. 10, the fourth-best mark by any Rob Evans-coached team in his 253 games as a head coach. The 61.3 percent was two games removed from the 61.9 percent effort at Oregon on Feb. 4, which is the second-best effort by any Evans squad...ASU's 27-point win at Oregon on Feb. 4 (99-72) was its largest Pac-10 road win since it beat Washington 90-62 on Jan. 10, 1981, a streak of 223 road tilts...ASU's 61.9 field goal percentage (39-of-63) at Oregon is its best since it shot 62 percent (31-of-50) at California on Jan. 14, 1995, a span of 191 games...Chad Prewitt is 12-of-24 (.500) from the three-point stripe this year...ASU is averaging 15.42 offensive rebounds this year, the best mark in the league. ASU led the Pac-10 last year at 15.78 per game.

ASU VS. THE WILDCATS: ASU had season-lows in points (55), free throws made (six), free-throw percentage (.545) and first-half points (22) in its 82-55 loss to fifth-ranked Arizona on Jan. 26 in Tempe last year, and ASU fell to the No. 12 Wildcats 86-75 in the first meeting this year on Jan. 24. UA leads the overall series 125-72 and has won the past 11. The last time ASU beat Arizona was on March 11, 1995, when ASU beat the Wildcats 103-98 in double overtime in Tucson. In the 86-75 loss this year, ASU committed 31 fouls and went to the line a season-low 12 times, while Arizona matched an opponent's season high with 16 offensive rebounds. Chad Prewitt led ASU with 18 points off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting. Arizona was one of just five teams to outrebound ASU on the year, as it had a 40-36 advantage on the boards. UA was 10-of-22 (.455) from the three-point stripe, but the biggest difference was at the foul line. The Wildcats were 32-of-44 (.727), while ASU was just 9-of-12 (.750).

SHELL AND ALLEN OUT FOR SEASON: Two Sun Devils who played solid roles as freshman last year must redshirt this season due to injuries. Tanner Shell, who averaged 9.1 points per game in Pac-10 games including a 24-point effort at USC, broke his left hand in practice in late December and will miss the remainder of the year. Shell had played in just the season opener due to a bulging disc in his back but was practicing for ASU's holiday tournament and was expected to return to the rotation. Last year he had six double-figure scoring games and averaged seven points per game. His 9.1 points per game in Pac-10 play was third on the team. Also, sophomore Justin Allen is redshirting after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in late September. Allen's treatments have been going well and he is expected to return to the court next season.

IN THE CLASSROOM: The Sun Devil men's hoops team had one of its best semesters last fall. Seven Sun Devils posted at least a 3.0 grade point average last semester. One player's academic effort that is worth noting is sophomore Justin Allen, who passed all nine hours with a 3.33 grade point average. Sophomore Shawn Redhage, a construction science major, is an Academic All-American candidate with a 3.28 cumulative grade point average. Overall, the 14 players on the team had a 2.7 grade point average.

AT THE LINE: Sophomore Shawn Redhage has established himself as one of the best free throw shooters in ASU history 56 games into his young career. Redhage is shooting 73-of-88 (.830) this year and is 132-of-159 (.830) in his two-year career. A look at Redhage on ASU career free throw list:

PREWITT BACK IN ACTION: The Sun Devils received a boost on Jan. 24 at Arizona when 6-9 junior Chad Prewitt (10.3 ppg. and 4.9 rpg.), who badly sprained his right ankle on Jan. 9, returned to the lineup after playing just 16 minutes the previous four contests. Prewitt missed the Washington (Jan. 11) and USC (Jan. 20) games and played just 12 minutes at Washington State (Jan. 13) and just four minutes vs. UCLA (Jan. 18). At Arizona, Prewitt had 18 points on 7-of-11 (.636) shooting, including two three-pointers. He added six rebounds in 31 minutes. Prewitt averaged 10.2 points in Pac-10 play last year, second on the team, and had started 45 straight games before missing the Washington game. In the weekend sweep of the Oregon schools, Prewitt averaged 12.5 points and 14 minutes. A look at some ASU stats with and without Prewitt.

GREAT SHOOTING NIGHTS: Arizona State has had two of the top five shooting nights by a Rob Evans-coached team against both Oregon (Feb. 4) and Washington (Feb. 10). Against Oregon, ASU was 39-of-63 (.619) from the field, including 20-of-31 (.645) in the second half. Against Washington, ASU was 38-of-62 (.613) from the field, including 20-of-30 (.667) in the second half. Those games are the second and fourth-best shooting nights by an Evans-coached team in his 253 games as a head coach dating to his first season at Ole Miss (1992-93). The best shooting night was on Feb. 15, 1995, when Ole Miss shot 62.5 percent (35-of-56) in a 102-90 victory over LSU. A look at the top five shooting nights by an Evans-coached team:

Rk. Pct. FG-A Evans' Team/Opponent Date

1. .625 35-56 Ole Miss vs. LSU Feb. 15, 1995

2. .619 39-63 Arizona State at Oregon Feb. 4, 2001

3. .618 34-55 Arizona State vs. Washington Jan. 7, 1999

4. .613 38-62 Arizona State vs. Washington Feb. 10, 2001

5. .609 28-46 Ole Miss vs. LSU Jan. 23, 1993

ROB EVANS: Rob Evans (130-123/.514) is in his third season in 2000-2001 (ninth overall) as the head basketball coach at Arizona State after being hired on April 7, 1998. The 1997 SEC Coach of the Year spent six seasons at Ole Miss, compiling an 86-81 (.515) record. He led the Rebels to a 42-16 record in his final two seasons, winning two SEC West titles, and led Ole Miss to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1937-38. The 54-year old Evans is a 1968 graduate of New Mexico State, where he captained two NCAA Tournament teams, is a 1989 inductee of the NMSU Athletic Hall of Fame and was named to the school's All-Time Basketball team. He is 44-42 (.517) in his his third year at ASU. Evans' Ole Miss squads were known as a tough man-to-man teams which ranked 13th in the nation and second in the SEC in 1997-98 in rebounding at +6.6, despite no player was in the top 30 in rebounding. Ole Miss held opponents to just 30 percent from the three-point stripe, best in the SEC, and to just 40.6 percent from the field. He is 86-58 (.597) in the past five seasons.

MILEAGE: The ASU program has logged some serious air miles within the past year. It started last year with a trip to the Puerto Rico Shootout, as ASU travelled 6,032 miles for its first road trip with its six freshmen. Then came trips to BYU (1,016), Bay Area (1,292), Los Angeles (750), North Carolina St. (3,776), Seattle/Pullman (2,216), Oregon/Oregon St. (2,020) and NCSU again (3,776). Add this year's Nov. 9-12 trip to the NABC Classic in Chapel Hill (3,776), the Dec. 16 game at San Diego State (750) and the trips to Seattle/Pullman (2,216), UO/Oregon State (2,020) and USC/UCLA (750) and ASU has flown 30,390 miles since the beginning of last season.

QUICKLY ABOUT LAST YEAR: The ASU men's basketball team (19-13, 10-8 in Pac-10) posted its best season since 1994-95 in Rob Evans second year at the helm of the program in 1999-2000. The young ASU team, with six true freshmen combining for nearly 96 minutes per game and at least one freshman starting in every game, posted a Pac-10 road sweep for the first time since 1996 to begin the second half at WSU/UW and notched a home sweep of the LA schools for the first time since 1986 a week later. It was ASU's first four-game Pac-10 win streak since 1995. ASU also was 3-1 in overtime (all Pac-10 road contests). The Sun Devils posted 19 wins for just the fourth time in the past 17 seasons, as ASU was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-10 media poll but finished in a tie for fourth with NCAA-bound UCLA (a team ASU beat 104-75 on Feb. 17 to end a 22-game losing streak to the Bruins) at 10-8, sweeping four teams along the way (Cal, WSU, UW and OSU).

SOLID DEFENSE: ASU held BYU (Dec. 2) and Kent State (Nov. 25) to just 30-of-114 (.263) from the floor. BYU was 22-11 last year and Kent State was 23-8, and both teams had the majority of their players returning. The 15-point loss was the worst for Kent State since it fell at Dayton in its season opener 89-73 on Nov. 14, 1998, while the 28-point loss was the worst for BYU since it fell at Oregon 93-62 on Dec. 5, 1998. The defensive efforts were among the best by a Rob Evans-coached team. Dating to when he took over Ole Miss in 1992-93, those two games rank second and fifth for field goal percentage defense. A look at the top five defensive efforts by an Evans' squad in his nine years, six at Ole Miss and three at Arizona State.

#4 TOMMY SMITH: Averaging 12.5 points in the past 10 games had a career-high 24 points vs. Washington on Feb. 10...28-of-41 (.683) from the field and is averaging 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in the past five games...10 points at #24 UCLA on Feb. 17...matched Pac-10 record for field goal percentage by making all 11 shots vs. Washington...first career-double with 11 points and 12 boards vs. WSU on Feb. 8...15 points at Oregon on Feb. 4...10 points and eight boards at OSU on Feb. 1...13 points at #12 Arizona on Jan. 24...10 points and eight boards vs. #24 USC on Jan. 20...posted 11 points and six boards vs. UCLA on Jan. 18...led ASU with 14 points, including 8-of-10 from the free throw line, at WSU on Jan. 14...posted 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting vs. Belmont on Dec. 22...11 points in 14 minutes vs. BYU on Dec. 2...season-high three blocks vs. Colgate on Nov. 21...posted six blocks vs. Oregon St. on Feb. 3, the most by a Sun Devil since Bobby Lazor had six vs. Texas A & M on Dec. 19, 1997.

#2 DONNELL KNIGHT: Has been in double digits in 16 games...11 points and seven boards vs. Washington on Feb. 10...averaged 11 points and four assists on Oregon road trip (Feb. 1-4)...12 points at #12 Arizona on Jan. 24...17 points and six boards vs. #24 USC on Jan. 20...15 points and 13 boards at Washington on Jan. 11 for first double-double...11 points at Washington State on Jan. 13...15 points vs. Charlotte on Dec. 30...13 points, seven boards and seven assists vs. Belmont on Dec. 22...18 points vs. Kent State on Nov. 25...posted career-high 21 points vs. Southern Utah on Nov. 17...had 15 points vs. Tulsa and 13 vs. Winthrop in NABC Classic games in early November...averaged nine points, five rebounds and 19.6 minutes in a five-game stretch from Feb. 5-Feb. 19 last year and was a key part of ASU's four-game winning streak in that time.

#22 TYSON JOHNSTON: Has three years of eligibity remaining after transferring from Utah after 1998-99...started both games of Washington trip due to ankle injury to Chad Prewitt...six points, five boards and four blocks at Washington on Jan. 11 in first career start...21 minutes and four points vs. #2 Stanford on Jan. 4...nine points and five boards at SDSU on Dec. 16.

CAREER HIGHS FOR TYSON JOHNSTON

POINTS: 9 at San Diego St. (12/16/00), REBOUNDS: 5, twice, at Washington (1/11/01), BLOCKS: 4 at Washington (1/11/01), MINUTES: 28 at Washington (1/11/01), FIELD GOALS MADE: 3, twice, at Washington (1/11/01), FIELD GOALS ATT.: 6 at San Diego St. (12/16/00), FT MADE: 3 at San Diego St. (12/16/00), FT ATT.: 7 at San Diego St. (12/16/00)

#42 SHAWN REDHAGE: An excellent student-athlete who has a 3.3 GPA in construction science...has made 132-of-159 (.830) free throws in his two-year career...one of two Sun Devils to start in all 22 games (Alton Mason is the other)...12 points on 6-of-7 shooting against Washington on Feb. 10...10 points in 26 minutes at Oregon on Feb. 4...16 points vs. UCLA on Jan. 18...14 points and seven boards vs. Stanford on Jan. 4...19 points and 12 boards vs. Charlotte on Dec. 30...earned ASU Holiday Classic All-Tournament honors...18 points and eight boards, including 9-9 FTs, vs. Mercer on Dec. 20...10 points, eight rebounds and six assists at SDSU on Dec. 16...11 points and six assists vs. BYU on Dec. 2...had 19 points vs. Tulsa in season opener and then had 17 vs. Winthrop.

CAREER HIGH SHAWN REDHAGE SEASON HIGH

20 vs. Washington (1/13/00) POINTS 19 vs. Tulsa (11/10/00)

12 vs. Charlotte (12/30/00) REBOUNDS

7 vs. Washington State (1/15/00) ASSISTS 6, twice, at San Diego St. (12/16/00)

#3 KYLE DODD: Averaging 29.2 minutes per game in Pac-10 play, third on the team...has started the past three games...10 points at USC on Feb. 15 including a two-handed dunk...first start of the year came on Feb. 10 vs. Washington and he posted six assists and no turnovers in 33 minutes...notched 15 points vs. Charlotte on Dec. 30...eight points and six boards in 31 minutes vs. Kent State on Nov. 25...showed tremendous poise in his rookie year, even nailing the game-winning three-pointer in overtime as ASU won at Washington State 81-79 and began its first four-game Pac-10 win streak since 1995...in his final 24 games last year, he posted 56 assists and just 16 turnovers in 466 minutes, an average of one turnover every 29 minutes and he did not turn the ball over in the final six games of the year (62 minutes).

CAREER HIGH KYLE DODD SEASON HIGH

15 vs. Charlotte (12/30/00) POINTS

6 vs. Kent State (11/25/00) REBOUNDS

5 vs. Charlotte (12/30/00) FIELD GOALS MADE

12 at USC (2/19/01) FIELD GOALS ATT.

42 at Washington State (2/10/00) MINUTES 37 at Washington (1/11/01)

4 vs. UCLA (2/17/00) STEALS

10 vs. UCLA (2/17/00) ASSISTS 6, twice, vs. Washington (2/10/01)

#52 CHAD PREWITT: Had 14 points at USC on Feb. 15...13 points and five boards vs. Washington on Feb. 10...posted solid minutes on Oregon road trip with 10 points in 16 minutes at Oregon State on Feb. 1 and 15 points in 12 minutes at Oregon on Feb. 4...18 points on 7-of-11 (.636) shooting, including 2-of-2 from the three-point stripe, in 31 minutes at #12 Arizona on Jan. 24...played just 16 minutes the previous four games due to sprained right ankle suffered on Jan. 9...played just four minutes vs. UCLA on Jan. 18...missed Jan. 11 game at Washington and Jan. 20 game vs. USC...played just 12 minutes at Washington St. on Jan. 13...23 points, including three three-pointers, vs. Charlotte on Dec. 30...20 points and eight boards vs. BYU on Dec. 2...18-41 (.439) from the three-point stripe in his career...was the only Sun Devil to start in all 32 games last year and had started the previous 45 games prior to Washington game...four double-doubles in career...15 points and 11 boards vs. Kent State on Nov. 25...15 points and nine boards vs. Colgate on Nov. 21...had 12 points and nine boards vs. Tulsa on Nov. 10.

CAREER HIGH CHAD PREWITT SEASON HIGH

23 vs. Charlotte (12/30/00) POINTS

11 vs. Kent State (11/25/00) REBOUNDS

8, twice, vs. Charlotte (12/30/00) FGS MADE

13, twice, at USC (2/15/01) FGS ATT.

37 at Washington State (2/10/00) MINUTES 33 vs. Colgate (11/21/00)

7 at #1 Stanford (1/6/00) FTS MADE 5 vs. Colgate (11/21/00)

9, twice, at Oregon (3/2/00) FTS ATT. 8 vs. Colgate (11/21/00)

4, twice, vs. Mercer (12/20/00) STEALS

5, twice, vs. Mercer (12/20/00) ASSISTS

3, twice, vs. Colgate (11/21/00) BLOCKS

FALL SIGNEE JASON BRAXTON: The Arizona State men's basketball program signed Jason Braxton (Moreno Valley, Calif./Canyon Springs High School) in the fall signing period. Braxton, a 6-3 guard who can play both the point and the wing, will join the Sun Devil roster in 2001-2002. 'Jason is a very versatile and smart player who can help us immediately next year,' says Rob Evans. 'This is a great signee for us. Our staff searched the country this past year and after watching Jason numerous times, we felt he was the best point guard prospect for our system. His toughness and leadership ability is tremendous. He pushes the ball in transition and is very smart. He committed to us early, so it was obvious that he wanted to be a Sun Devil. We only have two scholarships available because of the youth on the team so we had to be very selective. He is another piece of the puzzle that we now have in building this program into a great one. He joins freshmen and sophomores that were rated very highly in all the scouting services.' The Sporting News ranks Braxton as the 16th-best point guard prospect, calling him 'probably the most athletic point guard in the class' and he was rated by ESPN.com as the 41st-best overall prospect in the nation and by The HoopScoop as the 44th best player. He averaged 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in his junior season. CNNSI.com also rates him as the 22nd-best point guard in the nation and Bob Gibbons has him as a top-100 player. Canyon Springs also is where current ASU linebacker Solomon Bates graduated from in 1999. Also, Kenny Crandall, who was a freshman in 1998-99 and started in 23 games, went on a two-year Mormon Mission to Eugene, Ore., and will return to the Sun Devils in 2001-2002. Crandall, a native of Mesa, Ariz., and a 6-4 swingman who prepped at Mountain View High School, averaged 5.9 points and 28.4 minutes per game in his initial season. He will have three years of eligibility beginning in 2001-2002. Alton Mason is the lone senior on this year's Sun Devil squad. The spring signing period runs from April 11-May 15.

SCHOLARSHIP HONORS EVANS: New Mexico State's African American Alumni Association presents a scholarship in the name of Hall of Famer Rob Evans. The Rob Evans Scholarship Fund is given to the university to assist with the recruitment and retention of African American students. Evans, a native of Hobbs, N.M., is a 1968 graduate of NMSU with a bachelors degree in Education.

A VOTER: Rob Evans is one of the 31 coaches on The USA TODAY/ESPN Board which votes on the Coaches Top 25. The 31-member 2000-01 panel also includes Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Bob Huggins (Cincinnat), Gene Keady (Purdue), Rick Majerus (Utah), Dave Odom (Wake Forest) and Oliver Purnell (Dayton).

BAD LUCK: Since 1990, 38 of 39 Pac-10 teams who have won at least 11 conference games have been selected to the NCAA Tourney. The exception? ASU in 1992-93, when it was 11-7 and tied for third. Also, 42 of 44 teams since 1990 who have posted 18 overall wins and 10 Pac-10 wins have qualified for the NCAA. Again, the odd teams out were ASU in 1992-93 and 1999-2000.

OVERTIME: How impressive was ASU's 3-1 record in road overtime games? ASU just missed matching the NCAA record for road OT wins, which is four. Four schools notched 4-0 marks in road OT games in one season, including ASU in 1980-81. Others were Delaware (1972-73), Cal St. Fullerton (1988-89) and New Mexico St. (1993-94). ASU won road overtime games at California, Washington State and Oregon State and fell at USC.

OLD THREE-DOT DATA: ASU had its flight cancelled from Seattle to Spokane in between the UW-WSU games and as a result arrived in Moscow at its hotel at 1:45 a.m. ASU took a 10 p.m. flight to Spokane and then took a two-hour bus trip to Pullman for its 3 p.m. game. The Sun Devil 'layover' for its 35-minute flight was close to 10 hours...The Sun Devils started at least one freshmen in every game last year...ASU is 25-8 (.758) in its past two seasons when it leads at the half compared to 10-9 in 1998-99, Rob Evans' first year in Tempe...the last ASU opponent to score 100 points in Tempe was third-ranked Arizona on Feb. 27, 1988 (101-73). The current streak of an ASU opponent not scoring 100 points in Tempe stands at 218 games...the 27-point defeat at Oregon on Feb. 4 (99-72) was the largest at McArthur Court since Arizona beat Oregon 92-60 in 1993...ASU is now 4-3 vs. Oregon at McArthur Court in the past seven years...the 32-point win against Washington on Feb. 10 was ASU's largest Pac-10 win since it beat Oregon State 82-44 on Jan. 25, 1995, a span of 104 games.

ON MISSIONS: Kenny Crandall, who was a freshman in 1998-99 and started in 23 games, went on a two-year Mormon Mission to Eugene, Ore., and will return to the Sun Devils in 2001-2002. Crandall, a native of Mesa, Ariz., and a 6-4 swingman who prepped at Mountain View High School, averaged 5.9 points and 28.4 minutes per game in his initial season. He will have three years of eligibility. Also, Dewy DeWitt, a walk-on from Show Low, Ariz., who redshirted last year and received a full academic scholarship, left for his mission Aug. 30 to Trujillo